WOODLAND, Calif. – A quick-thinking California girl defended herself from an intruder while home alone on Friday, authorities said.
Nyletta Lincoln, 12, told KTXL that she heard what she thought was pounding, and after taking out her headphones, realized someone was trying to break into her family’s Woodland home.
“I grabbed my baseball bat and I walked into my living room and saw the lock was busted and he was trying to get in,” Nyletta Lincoln told the TV station, recounting an instant where the would-be intruder attempting to bust through the front door actually tried to get her to help him.
“He said, ‘Let me in.’ And I yelled, ‘No!’ And I kicked the door into his face,” Nyletta Lincoln said.
Paul Lincoln, Nyletta’s father, was out buying his daughter a present during the attempted break-in and said police arrived at their home just in time.
“The chain just let go as soon as (the police) were pulling up,” Paul Lincoln said.
Woodland police Sgt. Victoria Danzl told KTXL that officers were already in the area from a prowling call about two hours earlier, easily located the suspect outside of the Lincolns’ front door and arrested him.
“I was really scared, but I just knew, I knew he couldn’t come into the house. And I knew just to protect my own house. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want him stealing anything in my house. So I protected it,” Nyletta Lincoln told the TV station.
Danzl confirmed the suspect bears a striking resemblance to a man who was arrested in November for prowling, after police found him rummaging through trash in a resident’s yard.
“There are some similarities from the description to the subject, and we’ll be following up on that,” she said.
Meanwhile, Paul Lincoln told KTXL that he’s proud of his daughter.
“She’s my little Latina-Irish Viking and it’s in our blood. He picked the wrong house. He picked the wrong house with a tougher 12-year-old than me,” Paul Lincoln said.
